Jonathan Teyan
Special to the USA TODAY Network
March 19, 2025
As the pace of scientific discovery continues to accelerate and with uncertainty about future National Institutes of Health funding looming, the competition for scientists and research dollars has never been fiercer. New York State has been a global leader in biomedical research for decades, but we face unprecedented challenges in maintaining that position. State investments in research have never been more important.
Biomedical research is critical to the state’s economy. New York was the second-leading recipient of NIH funding in 2024, totaling $3.6 billion — 70% of which was awarded to scientists at our medical schools. Statewide, NIH investments generated nearly $8.27 billion in economic activity last year, directly supporting more than 30,000 jobs. Further, NIH-funded research is the engine that drives medical discoveries and helps advance more than 52,000 biopharmaceutical companies and 109,000 jobs in the industry. This engine has been fueled by decades of consistent federal commitments to ensuring the nation’s preeminence in biomedicine — something that can no longer be taken for granted.
While our competitors are making bold, multi-billion-dollar investments in research talent, New York is at risk of falling further behind without decisive action. Since 2019, Texas has committed an additional $3 billion to its Cancer Prevention Research Initiative, or CPRIT, bringing its total commitment to $6 billion, while California’s $5.5 billion investment in its Institute for Regenerative Medicine brought its total investment to $10.5 billion. Meanwhile, New York has moved in the opposite direction by terminating the New York State Stem Cell Science, or NYSTEM, program in 2020, which funded breakthrough research and provided crucial support for early-career scientists.
If the feds fail NYS biomedical researchers, our Legislature must stand up
Against this challenging backdrop, the New York Fund for Innovation in Research and Scientific Talent, or NYFIRST, program has proven to be an extraordinary success story, generating a nearly 10-to-1 return on the state’s initial $11.7 million investment while attracting and retaining world-class biomedical researchers.
Dr. Juntao Luo exemplifies how the NYFIRST program leverages targeted state support. A NYFIRST grant enabled SUNY Upstate Medical University to further invest in Luo’s work, ensuring his groundbreaking research on sepsis — and the sizeable federal grants he has secured — continues in New York. Since joining Upstate in 2011, Luo has been awarded seven patents, millions in additional grant funding and continues to work toward establishing startup companies and commercializing new therapies. Like the other NYFIRST awardees at medical schools throughout New York, Luo is vital to our regional and statewide bioscience economies.
With New York State budget season underway, I urge the Legislature — which fought for the creation of the NYFIRST program in 2018 — to appropriate an additional $10 million to keep us competitive for scientific talent. The data are compelling: since its inception, NYFIRST has created nearly 160 new jobs, from superstar scientists to early-career researchers and support staff. These aren’t just jobs — they’re careers at some of the very best research institutions in the world and the sorts of employment that create sustainable economic growth in our communities.
Jonathan Teyan is the president and CEO of the Associated Medical Schools of New York, which advocates for state investments in biomedical research like the New York Fund for Innovation in Research and Scientific Talent, or NYFIRST, program.
Read the op-ed here.